Framing Crisis Information Systems: The Case of WIS

Abstract

Relief efforts for natural and societal crises require a multitude of agencies to effectively and efficiently share information and coordinate their efforts. In 2009, The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency launched a Web-based Information System (WIS) for Information sharing in crisis management. The system has undergone two major revisions and is applied nation-wide with the intent of aiding inter-agency coordination. The study draws upon Orlikowski and Gash’s notion of technological frames to contrast the perspectives of technology users and technology promoters. The study revealed that both stakeholder groups agree on the potential benefits of the system, but differ in their view on the system itself as well as its application in practice. Furthermore, the study highlights the limitations of dedicated ICT for crisis management as users perceive WIS to be useful in coordinating slow-moving events that involve many different societal actors, yet unwieldy to deploy in a sudden crisis.